Born of Lord Buddha | Where was Buddha born ?

* Born of Lord Buddha.

* Where was Buddha born ?

* Born place of Buddha.

* Where Lord Buddha spend his childhood ?

* How did Siddhartha Gautam (Buddha) spend his childhood ?

* What lead Prince Siddhartha Gautam to leave his luxurious life ?

* And all the facts about the born of Lord Buddha …

Now lets begin the story about the born of Lord Buddha ……..

Born of Lord Buddha.

Hundreds of years ago, in Nepal, King Suddhodan ruled over the kingdom of Kapilvastu. He was an able and kind ruler who was much respected by his subjects. His wife was Queen Mahamaya. She was a beautiful and intelligent woman. Both of them were admired and loved by the people of their kingdom.

One night Queen Mahamaya had a wonderful dream, she saw that a six tusked white elephant descended from heaven and entered her womb. The elephant carried a lotus in its trunk.

Art Credit: Buddhiram Tharu

The dream seemed more real to her than any other dream she had ever had, and she woke up instantly.

The queen immediately woke up her husband, King Suddhodan, and told him about her dream. He too agreed that it was an unusual dream. Both of them wondered what the strange dream might mean!

The next morning, the royal couple summoned to their palace, a wise old man. He was skilled in interpreting dreams.

After hearing about the strange dream, the wise man said the dream meant Queen Mahamaya was going to have a child who would grow up to be a great leader of humankind. Sometime later, the queen learnt that she was going to be a mother.

The king was overjoyed to hear the news. He invited all the noblemen in the country to a feast, to tell them about the arrival of his heir. Sweets were distributed to all the citizens, and food and clothes were given to the poor people, in celebration.

A few months later, the queen told her husband that she wanted to visit her parents in Devadaha. The king immediately ordered the royal chariot to be made ready for the queen. He chose the strongest and best of his servants to take her safely to her parents’ home.

The royal procession had gone just halfway to the queen’s former home, when they passed by a beautiful garden. It was the garden of Lumbini. The trees in the garden were laden with lovely flowers, and a heavenly fragrance wafted from them. Queen Mahamaya desired to break the journey for a while and spend sometime in the garden.

Art Credit: Buddhiram Tharu

It was in this beautiful garden of Lumbini, under a great Sal tree, that a son was born to Queen Mahamaya. This was a full-moon night in the month of May.

The queen returned with her newborn son to the royal palace. The entire kingdom rejoiced the birth of their prince. Five days after the birth of his son ( born of lord Buddha ), the king invited five wise men to his palace to select a name for his son. The wise men named the newborn prince, ‘ Siddhartha ‘. The name meant ‘the one whose wishes will be fulfilled’.

King invited a Brahmin, a seer to make predictions about the prince’s future. The seer examined the child with his clairvoyance and told the king,”There are signs that the boy could become a great king, a ruler of the entire world, or a fully enlightened Buddha.

However, since the time for Chakravartin king is now past it is certain that he will become a Buddha.

Among all the rejoicings, misfortune struck the kingdom of Kapilvastu. Just seven days after the birth of her son (born of Lord Buddha), Queen Mahamaya died. All the people of the kingdom fell into a gloom. King Suddhodan was shocked and upset beyond any consolation.

The newborn infant was left motherless. Then, the departed queen’s sister, Prajapati Gotami took the responsibility of looking after her nephew. She cared for the baby prince with as much love as if he were her own son.

Art Credit: Buddhiram Tharu

Time went by, and Prince Siddhartha grew up to be a handsome and intelligent young boy. In the meantime, the words of the Brahmin came to hound King Suddhodan. Siddhartha was the only heir to the throne and King Suddhodan did not want him to renounce the world. He decided to keep the prince within the walls of the palace, so that he would not be exposed to, of influenced by any holy man. That’s why he had a huge wall built around the palace. Prince Siddhartha grew up amid an abundance of luxury and had everything at his beck and call.

Nonetheless, King Suddhodan did not fail to give his son the education that a prince ought to receive. Siddhartha became skilled in many aspect of knowledge even at the arts of war.

Right from his childhood, Siddhartha through deeply about what he saw around him. From observing the people of the palace attendants, maids, gardeners, guards, etc., he learnt that though he was happy, there were many who were not. So, Siddhartha felt a deep sympathy for all creatures, be it human beings or animals. He could not bear to see any creature in pain.

One day, Siddhartha was walking through the palace-woods with his cousin Devdatta, who was very fond of hunting. He had brought his bow and arrows with him. Suddenly, Devdatta saw a white swan flying in the air, and shot at it. Devdatta’s arrow wounded the swan severely, and brought it down. Both the boys ran to get the bird. Siddhartha reached the swan first, and found to his surprise that it was still alive.

Art Credit: Buddhiram Tharu

‘Oh poor bird! It must be feeling so much pain’, Siddhartha thought to himself. He gently removed the arrow. Siddhartha then squeezed some juice form certain medicinal leaves, pured it on the wound to stop the bleeding, and gently stroked the frightened swan. The swan soon revived.

By then, Devdatta had arrived. He demanded the swan from Siddhartha, claiming it as his prize.

Siddhartha refused to hand it to the Devdatta. “If it were dead, I would have given it to you,” he said, “but isn’t. I have nursed the swan back to life. I cannot give it to you now.”

Art Credit: Buddhiram Tharu

Hearing this, Devdattta was extremely enraged. “Let us go to the court of justice and ask who really owns the swan”. Siddhartha agreed; so off they went to the court of justice to sort out their quarrel.

The judge heard the entire matter, and then gave the swan to Siddhartha. “Life is more valuable than anything else in the world,” he said. “And so, it certainly must belong to one who tries to save it. A life cannot belong to one who is only trying to destroy it. Thus, the wounded swan belongs to Siddhartha by right.”

Prince Siddhartha grew up in a sunny world of gardens and groves, attended by dancing girls and musicians. He lived in a worlds of plenty and beauty. He could have whatever he wanted, but he was not happy yet.There remained a strange sadness and longing in his heart, which haunted him made him restless.

One day, King Suddhodan asked some wise people, “What shall I do to make my son happy? He always seems to be depressed and sad.” The wise men suggested, “Now your son is sixteen years old; find him a beautiful girl to marry.”

At that time, a swayamvar (competition for engagement) was being arranged for the beautiful Princess Yashodhara. King Suddhodan sent Siddhartha to win the hand of the princess in the swayamvar. Siddhartha won all the competitions.

In the final test, he was asked to tame a wild horse. To the surprise of the people around, Prince Siddhartha did not beat or hurt the horse, but he talked to the animal soothingly and stroked it gently. Finally the horse was tamed!

Prince Siddhartha won the hand of the princess. Siddhartha and Yashodhara were married amid much pomp and celebration. The King thought that marrying the beautiful and gentle Yashodhara would bring an end to Siddhartha’s melancholy and restlessness.

But, king Suddhodan did not know that marriage wasn’t what his son’s heart yearned for and that it had merely brought Siddhartha one more bond to be broken.

This is how the story of the Born of Lord Buddha goes with his childhood. The remaining parts of this story to be continued in our next post. Please go through this post “Four Sights of Buddha.” for the next episode after the Born of Lord Buddha.